


Cherish the Present

by Magaritas



Series: The Timeline Series [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2019-11-24 04:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18161351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magaritas/pseuds/Magaritas
Summary: After a tragic accident in the Agreste manor, Gabriel, Adrien, and Nathalie must all adjust to the new changes around them. Meanwhile, Marinette is facing struggles with her feelings and tries to help Adrien through his hardships.





	1. The Tragedy

**Author's Note:**

> in which Gabriel goes sicko mode, Nathalie is mad, sadrien is a thing, and marinette tries to be wholesome. chloe is sassy and luka accepts fate. also, the heroes are gone?

She loved him.

Call it a romantic failure, but she had fallen for a man whose one aspiration in life was to reunite with another woman he was in love with. Now, she was left alone at his bedside, waiting for the routine check ups the doctors would come in for every now and then. Drugged on morphine, he would slide in and out of consciousness and give her a gentle smile whenever he realized she was around.

Nathalie couldn't imagine herself with him at any point in time, she didn't see any future or fantasize anything remotely romantic — it just wasn't how her mind worked when it came to Gabriel. No wedding, no hugs and kisses, no dinners, none of it. She needed to focus on his goal, to revive his wife, Emilie.

Every time Nathalie thinks she has any sort of chance to be with him, she's reminded that Gabriel does all of his evil duties as Paris' villain for his wife, the woman he really loved. Sometimes she just got lost in the bliss of his villainy.

Maybe she found bad boys attractive after all.

Back in grade school, Nathalie wasn't necessary a teacher's pet, but she was the quiet straight A student that her friends would aspire to be. She never really loved anyone, and no one really loved her; she blamed it on her name.

Nathalie Sancoeur. It literally meant "Nathalie has no heart", and she went by that principle until she met Gabriel Agreste himself during an interview. What better to use your business and french degrees than to be the intern assistant for an uprising fashion legend?

She first noticed him after reading on the internet that Audrey Bourgeois, the Style Queen, had been giving apprenticeship to an upcoming designer. Being the fashion follower she is, Nathalie was very intrigued; when she read in a forum that he was looking for an intern assistant a few years later, the college student was quick to apply.

By then, Gabriel was engaged to Emilie, and Nathalie had seen it all. She was there for the wedding and Adrien's birth among other festivities and galas and such. Gabriel had been there for her graduation two years after her hiring — bringing Emilie and his infant son.

"Gabriel Agreste?" Doctor Alexandre Arzt gently knocked on the door, interrupting Nathalie's silent reminiscing.

"He isn't awake right now, is something wrong?" Nathalie rose from the chair she pulled next to the hospital bed that bore the man in question.

"Just checking in. Such trauma on his skull could be fatal. You're lucky he's still alive."

"Yes, thank you sir." Nathalie looked down at his near lifeless face. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Doctor Arzt looked down at his clipboard and sighed. "The accident he was in did not penetrate his skull, but it did leave fractures and scalp wounds. He already went through the necessary surgery and his staples were put in as well, but no brain tissue was damaged. The painkillers are what is keeping him from staying awake, but he will be better soon." Alexandre flipped a few pages and looked back up to make eye contact. “Now we just need to do some follow up operations, cleaning, and an X-Ray for further limb wounds once he is in better conditions. Does he have any direct family?"

"His wife has passed and his son is at school. He should be coming by tomorrow."

"I'm very sorry for the loss." The doctor paused awkwardly, but continued. "What are your relations with Mr. Agreste?"

"I am his assistant, I live with him and his son and found him after the incident."

"And can you explain what exactly happened?"

"I'd prefer not to." Nathalie pressed her lips in a thin line and looked back down.

"And why is that?"

"It was tragic." The assistant raised her voice abruptly, standing up from her seat and gathering her purse and tablet. "And I have right to keep it confidential, for the sake of my composure, please."

"Then I'll be taking my leave." With that, the doctor began leaving the room, but stopped. "I also have his belongings, they will be brought inside your suite waiting room shortly, Madame. We will need you to leave the room for the procedures as well." Nathalie nodded in response and exited the room, taking one last look at Gabriel in his stupors.

Conveniently, this hospital suite had its own waiting room with couches and tables, and people would filter in now and then, - including paparazzi - leaving a rather excessive amount of flowers and gifts that would certainly not be allowed inside his room after he was done with his operations.

Nathalie hadn't cared much for the several visitors until Audrey Bourgeois visited with her husband.

"What on earth is happening to that man?" She pouted with crossed arms.

"He was involved in an accident and suffered severe head damage." Nathalie confirmed. "They are performing secondary operations on his scalp now. Are there any messages you wish to leave him?"

"None at all, I would just like to be informed of when he is discharged. Let's go, André." She strutted out, dropping off a small gift on the way out. Nathalie had no intentions of telling her anything, the way she treated her the last time they encounter was inexcusable, regardless if she and Gabriel had conspired to vex her purposely.

This only made her think about this whole plan even more. Why did she feel such the rush of cool blood in her veins so desirable whenever she and Gabriel would commit all of these acts of villainy? Local "good girl" Nathalie Sancoeur would have never been thought to have been Paris' most hated individual's accomplice.

A super villain.

There was no doubt she realized how risky this whole ordeal was. No authority knew exactly how to deal with villains using power to temporarily jeopardize the entire city, so the consequences could be anything. Would it be worth it? To her, it was indefinite.

She couldn't tell whether it was her love for him, the sick feeling villainy gave her, or the fact that Gabriel was her boss, but she wanted to help him reach his goals inevitably, and that meant to destroy anything in their path.

Now that Gabriel was temporarily disabled, there wasn't much she could accomplish anyways.

"Madame Sancoeur, here are some of Monseiur Agreste's belongings that were recovered." It had seemed that a nurse slipped into the attached waiting room and offered a large paper envelope while Nathalie was off in her thoughts.

"Thank you, Madame." Nathalie took the bag carefully and sifted through its contents; this was phase one of her new plan that she would use to avenge Gabriel.

There it was, the brooch that began all of this, the reasons behind its prolonged activation being for his beloved.

The loyal assistant would much rather not reminisce on what this jewel meant, being one of the reasons Emilie was in a coma in the first place - it was quite childish moreover.

That's it, she would need to keep this brooch safe before it gets into worse hands. What they were doing was undoubtedly evil, but she and Gabriel knew well that the good intention behind their actions would pay off in the end.

What would she do without him?

Perhaps activating Nooroo would give her a figure to confide in. After all, she was forced to seal Duusu away after the battle on Hero's day.

Ah, the battle. They believed it would be their final attack on the teenage superheroes, but were clearly mistaken. If it weren't for her capricious decision to wield the peacock miraculous, he would have been done for much too early.

It wasn't like his getting injured was much of a difference anyways.

What happened to him was no accident, and Nathalie knew exactly what the roots of the attack were, but she would have to discuss this with her boss later on.

She simply took the brooch and looked at it for a moment before it activated, Nooroo appearing in front of her.

"You aren't Gabriel."

"I'm aware." Nathalie frowned. "He's still recovering. I just thought I could use the guidance."

"I understand. What is wrong?" Nooroo fluttered around and landed on Nathalie's shoulder.

"That's the problem, I don't know."

The assistant began to hear subtle footsteps and chatter growing as people would try passing by and looking inside. Luckily, the windows were frosted, so no one could see her and Nooroo, and she assumed no one else would be let in as he was being operated on.

"You can tell me anything. You're temporarily my master until Gabriel activates me once again. I can be sworn into secrecy."

"Tempting..." Nathalie thought. It did seem reasonable, and she knew very well of the boundaries these magical creatures beheld. "I think I'm in love with Gabriel. Actually, no, I know I'm in love with him, but he loves Emilie and as my admiration grows I only start to realize ..."

"You don't know what to do. I understand."

"Is all of this worth it? He is just as immobile as she is now because he was trying to get her back through all of this villainy. So much evil for no outcome."

"He doesn't understand that there is a consequence. For her life to come back, he would have to sacrifice another that is just as dear to him."

"He is aware, and I'll be willing to be that sacrifice."

"What you're promising is more than you'll succumb to when the time comes, and Gabriel doesn't have a choice in the matter."

"Meaning?"

"It won't be you who he would be sacrificing, and it wouldn't be someone random either. What other person in this realm does Gabriel have such a deep love for that could compare to what he felt for Emilie?"

"Adrien..." She gasped, rising a hand up to her mouth.

"It isn't worth any of it."

"What about me? If I sacrifice myself for Gabriel and Emilie. I don't care for anyone else."

"You love Adrien as if he were your own son. I could tell."

"Urgh." Nathalie grunted. This was a matter of life and death, and she was determined to find a solution. "I'll figure it out..."

Following the operation, it was about four in the afternoon, and Nathalie was still sitting and waiting with all the gifts, but was offered to come back into the room. She did just that. She just sat in the room, looking at him, watching over him like a mother hen.

Gabriel was barely conscious, but in the times that he was aware and thinking, it was always of Emilie. He did everything for her, and now this was the final straw to end it all.

Maybe this idea of evil was useless after all.

He thought about when they met at a party, a New Year's one in fact. The newly engaged soon to be Bourgeois' always loved to show off their lavish riches, and once André bought the plot for a hotel, they found it suitable to use the ballroom space for something extravagant.

Gabriel was invited as one of Audrey's colleagues. His long awaited successful career had just begun, and she wanted to make his name known. His apprenticeship was much through and she wanted him to shine, thus giving him the spotlight.

He remembered wearing a red velvet suit jacket and matching pants of his own creation, sporting a crimson and white striped tie and an ivory dress shirt underneath, completed with white shoes and a white fedora. He was feeling rather festive, taking on a candy-cane aesthetic that night for the holidays.

His original plan was to match with his boss, both wearing red and white, but she had other plans. She came in wearing her own custom made silver jumpsuit of her design. Holographic and reflective and all, there were silver rhinestones dripping down from the heart shaped neckline down the loose pant legs, matching her closed-toe pumps.

Her outfit was sleeveless originally, but she made the last minute decision to add an underlay of sheer blue mesh to go down her arms and around her chest, covered in even more rhinestones that declined as they moved the length of her limbs. Her bobbed hair had been woven with an extravagant blue bedazzled crown, and her eyes were shadowed with even more blue glitter.

André, who no one had known Audrey was courting until the invitations to the party celebrating their engagement and the new year of 1998 were sent, wore a royal blue suit and a silver shirt underneath, the top two buttons undone. He was initially as simple as that, but Audrey ordered for his suit jacket to be rhinestoned, and so it was.

In a way, Gabriel was stood up by the last minute change, but wasn't very disappointed.

Audrey did say she would "hook him up."

André had a younger sister by the name of Arlette, who was a cinematographer. Her leading actress was Emilie Ordaine for her first full on production she was planning.

Audrey told her future sister in law that she had a man, a hopeless case, who needed a spark to make things interesting, and Arlette had the perfect girl with an identical situation.

And so Gabriel's eyes were blessed by a woman in a stunning red off the shoulder dress, with tight sleeves connecting to her middle finger. When extended, her arms would show the attached layer of sheer fabric that lined it and draped down to join the rest of her trail as if it were a cape, and faux white roses found their way down her dress and across her neckline, and adorned her braided crown across her head.

To Gabriel, she was the best dressed at the entire venue, and these were all of the most powerful people in all of Paris!

"So I suppose you're the one Arlette told me about?" Emilie asked, using one of her hands to delicately close his gaped mouth by pushing up his chin. "And you might want to keep that closed, you wouldn't like flies in there. Gabriel Agreste, isn't it? How about a dance?" She took his hand and led him to the immense crowd of people in the center of the ballroom, and the rest of the night was utter delight.

"Take this," she said, unpinning a small silver flower brooch from the center of her dress - that, not to mention, he didn't notice on her until this moment, and he deemed it an artistic masterpiece - and attaching it to his suit jacket, just under the pocket with his white handkerchief.

"What is it?" Gabriel inquired, examining it.

"It is the prototype to the brooch that the father of Arlette made for her and André, some sort of family heirloom, if you will. There are only three of these in existence, and this one is the imperfect one. Arlette found it and gave it to me after our arrangement to work together on this next project. I believe it suits you."

Emilie was so eloquent and smooth, Gabriel couldn't help but fall into a trance from her confidence.

"I bet this mysterious project will be amazing, wouldn't it?"

"I'd hope so. I hear it's going to get a lot of..." she pulled him close and came close to his ear, wrapping one of her legs around his, "You know what I mean."

By this moment, Gabriel was frozen solid, not knowing at all what to do with his arms or face or anything!

"Do I now?" Gabriel barely muttered before Emilie barely brushed her nose with his.

"You're smart, I bet you would." She lowered herself from the tips of her toes, considering the man was rather tall, and snaked her hands around his neck. He reciprocated and pulled her in, his arms around her waist.

What he didn't know was that this vibe of great confidence was just a burst, and she was normally a nervous wreck. This idea of some sort of blind date was exhilarating, and she certainly wasn't herself. She, too, was awestruck by this handsome and chivalrous man before her, but she thought about the opportunity; why not try and experiment with her risky side? After all, if she weren't much to him, he'd probably forget about her in a heartbeat, but this man seemed rather interested in her, so she took this advantage.

"Come outside with me, would you?" Gabriel asked her after some drinks at the bar, offering a hand out to her.

"Of course." She agreed, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers.

He traveled through a series of hallways and up a few staircases, and to the secret entrance to the second penthouse, one reserved for him. "This isn't outside." Emilie said.

"Mhhm..." Gabriel kept leading her, and they stopped at the spacious balcony, overlooking the ledge. She leaned against the railing and Gabriel traced his palms up her arms and to the front of her body as if to warm and embrace her as they watched the bustling city.

"What is this place? And how did you get here?"

"It's my portion of the penthouse, for whenever I need to work on overnight projects. Audrey likes having me close by for any calls." Gabriel pressed himself on her, resting his chin over her head as she nestled into his neck and raised a hand to caress his face.

"I've only known you for hours but it's felt like a decade." Emilie laughed.

"And I've loved every second of it." Gabriel replied, his muscles relaxing as the nerves released.

"Ten!" They heard from the balcony a few floors down, where the party was taking place.

"I see the clock is counting down. Would you like to join them?" He offered, and she nodded.

"Seven, six, five," they whispered together. During four, Emilie turned around and looked up at the man, and continued counting for two and one.

They completed their 1997 in each other's arms, lips pressed against each other in bliss.

His heart would flutter every time he thought of this moment.

Nathalie was aware of the intense love Gabriel felt for his wife, and she knew she could never compare to it, and she didn't even have any hope.

Hopeless. That was the perfect word.

She was willing to sacrifice herself for this man, and she had never felt this way before for anyone.

She wanted revenge for this injustice. She hated seeing him this way. He was more than just an employer, and what happened to him was far out of line.

This was Ladybug and Chat Noir's doing, and Nathalie was knew exactly what to do.

"Nooroo, transform me."

 

\-----

"So Marinette, huh?"

"What about her?" Adrien shrugged as he adjusted the strap of his backpack and continued walking out the school with Nino.

"I dunno man, after she kissed you at the picnic and you sat with her in class, you've been all googley eyed dude! Do you like her or something?" Nino then grabbed a protein bar, it was chocolate - his favorite, and started chewing into it slowly, savoring every second.

"Let me pretend you're not roleplaying with your snack as if it's Alya." Adrien rolled his eyes.

"DUDE! Not the point man!" The boy in the red cap growled and quickly took another bite. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Question? All I can hear is you having the time of your life with your Alya and your mouth all full!" This earned Adrien a punch on the shoulder. "Ow, fine! To give you an answer, Marinette is, uh, just a, heh, frrriiieeennnd..."

"Well when you say 'friend' like that you make it seem like it’s everything except that. Now tell me the deets!" By then, Nino was done with his indulgent snack bar and was giving his full attention to Adrien.

"You sound like your girlfriend."

"Enough of MY girlfriend, I want to talk about YOURS!"

"Girlfriend? I don't have one!" Adrien kept up the coy act, and as long as he could avoid the topic as much as possible, it wouldn't have to haunt his mind for every second of the day.

"MARINETTE!" By then, Nino was struggling. Of course, there were other instances in which Adrien would play the dumb blonde game and frustrate the living hell out of his best friend, but that didn't make the thirst for answers any more quenched for Nino.

"Marinette, oh yes, she's a very good friend."

"NOOOOO!"

"What's going on here?" Alya joined the conversation, crossing her arms knowing very well what they were talking about. After all, they weren't very subtle.

"Nothing!" The two boys spoke simultaneously, for different reasons. Nino was told specifically not to poke at the situation, since Alya was wary of him accidentally exposing Marinette's crush.

Adrien, however, just wanted it over with. He loved Ladybug, but people couldn't know that, and now Nino believed that the kiss she gave him at the picnic was more than what it was. It was just a friendship kiss! That's what friends do!! Right??

If he told people he was in love with Ladybug, it would only seem shallow. In love with a super heroine, eh? They couldn't know that he hides under a mask by her side almost every day, that he has created some kind of bond with her that no one else could even imagine.

Well maybe Rena and Carapace could imagine it, they seem pretty close.

But wouldn't it seem unrealistic of him to think he has chances with Ladybug. Paris' beloved Ladybug.

"Crap, I'm running late." Adrien began to pick up his walking pace as Alya and Nino followed suit.

"Visiting your old man?" Nino comforted while putting a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

Adrien gave a sorrowful sigh, not knowing how to feel with the situation. He thought that if he just ignored that it happened, then it would just go away, similar to his strange feelings for these girls.

No no no, only one girl, right.

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk-"

"Wait, what happened? Did he get hurt in the accident?" Alya interrogated, her journalistic tendencies coming about.

"Uh, yeah, but I think he's still hanging in there." Adrien sulked, looking out for his chauffeur. "The Gorilla's late too. That usually never happens." He took a seat on the steps and sank into himself.

"Oh, poor thing." Alya went to sit with him, and Nino followed. "Speak to us, let it out." She cooed, being gentle and understanding.

“There’s nothing to talk about, my dad is just, not good right now. It’s complicated and I don’t know how to feel about the whole thing, I can’t help but blame myself...

"I-I don't know what to do. First my mom and now my dad and now," Adrien hiccuped, burying his face in his hands, his face heating up and tears beginning to draw.

Little did they know, the lonely Marinette Dupain-Cheng happened to pass by at that moment, and decided to continue on her walk home rather than try to help.

She and Adrien weren't close after all, and her gesture probably hadn't meant much. He hadn't talked to her all day, it wasn't her place to check up on him.

Alya and Nino, however, stayed and hugged him from either side, consoling and comforting him during these difficult moments. They couldn't imagine how it'd been like for him. Adrien's life was so complex and bizarre, and they didn't know how to help him deal with all of these impossible hardships.

"I almost l-lost him too. I sh-shouldn't have done what I did, but... oh my god..." Adrien was full on sobbing now, thinking about their entire family and what it used to be, what it could have been if everything went right, if only he hadn't...

No, he isn't thinking about this now, he should get home and alleviate his mind.

The fact he didn't have one, however, was the problem.

"It's all hap-happening too fast... I don't have a home to go to, it-it's all messed up and Nathalie still made me go to sch-school and I thought I-I could handle it all but I can't and now all of my feelings are coming out and today was supposed to be good and fun and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He kept crying, he let all the tears roll down his face.

Marinette watched from across the streets, not drawing her eyes away although she desperately wanted to.

What was that pie they had on gaming day? She was about to get him just that.

"Don't be sorry dude," Nino spoke, his voice as calm and soothing as ever expected.

"You haven't done anything wrong. Not to your father, not to us. It'll get better, and we're here for you every step of the way." Alya strengthened her hold of him, hating to see his tears when he was usually the life of the party.

He was so innocent and kind and pure, he didn't deserve any of this.

But to Adrien, Alya didn't know anything. It was all his fault, his father was almost dead because of him.

And he couldn't say anything.

"No, no, no..." He kept on sobbing and apologizing as he gasped for air. "I'm so s-sorry, I'm sorry, I'm just..."

"It's okay bro, it's okay." Nino concluded as Adrien took deeper breaths, using his sweatshirt sleeves to wipe off the wetness around his eyes.

"I never really let people see me this vulnerable, I just needed some people to let it out to, you know? I don't have many friends other than Chloé and she wouldn't really get it." He wiped his face again, then felt how warm and flushed his cheeks had become.

"It's what we're here for, Adrien. We all have hard times to come through and that's why you have us."

"Uhh, I don't know if this is a bad time," Marinette began, holding a box of a treat from the bakery, packaged to the greatest quality, "but I thought you could use this." She offered the box and sat a few steps down when he took it gently in his hands.

"What's this?" Adrien was confused as to why Marinette would give him a treat, it was so kind yet so characteristic of her.

"A salmon and spinach quiche. Fresh from my family’s bakery.”

“Oh my god,” he sniffled, “you really didn’t have to.” He opened the box and took in a whiff of the aroma.

“My parents want me home, guys.” Alya interjected the sweet moment of eye contact between Marinette and Adrien, Nino immediately feeling the drop in tension.

“I can walk you there,” Nino added, giving Marinette a subtle smirk. “Marinette will help you out with your slump, right? She has plenty of happiness to spare.” He winked and linked arms with Alya, walking off to her apartment. His brother was always participating in after school activities and his parents were always at work, so that left him to practically be adopted by the Césaires.

“I get it. See you guys.” Adrien said as though he weren’t paying attention, for his mind was focused on the treat and Marinette’s gesture.

What may have seemed like nothing to Marinette meant the world to Adrien! She didn’t have to go out of her way for him and she still did! Just for him of all people!

“Bye guys,” Marinette waved and sat beside Adrien, relaxing her muscles a bit more. She just pondered for a bit, feeling like Adrien needed some sort of presence for a bit. This wasn’t a time for him to be alone, so she just sat and stared while he dug into his snack with the provided fork.

After a while, Marinette was started by a sudden mouth filled “Crap” when Adrien yelled at the notification on his phone.

“What is it?”

He swallowed and put down the box and gestured to his phone, showing the succinct text from Nathalie he received.

Nathalie: I regret to inform you that your chauffeur has limited mobility as of now. The hospital is crowded with paparazzi and fans of your father, and the Gorilla will be waiting here until it dies out. Do not expect a pickup. You are free for the day, I suppose, but be careful. Any funny business will result in consequences. Do I make myself clear?

Nathalie: I will also be expecting a check in text every hour, and I must know your location.

Adrien: Yes ma’am.

“Oh, Adrien… I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind if you stayed at my place until you’re picked up. We can do homework and watch a movie!”

“Really?” Adrien asked, a smile beginning on his face. Although there was still a layer of sadness built on his expressions, she felt as if even this faint grin would help improve his state of mind, little by little.

“Sure! Mondays are Chinese takeout nights! Let’s go!” So Marinette instantly felt regret for this offer, her room wasn’t clean and she’d probably have a lack of conversation! But he was so happy, it was too late to turn back now!

Once their belongings were gathered, Adrien picked up right where they left off, following Marinette.

Meanwhile, another student exited the school in sorrow and sat alone.

He sat alone for a while.

He sat alone as the wind rose in speed and the moist air lowered in temperature.

He sat alone until an unpleasant girl left the school behind him.

"Ugh, who are you, and why are you in my way?" The blonde snarled as she sassily stepped around the boy sulking on the staircase of the school. "And my chauffeur is late again! It's utterly ridiculous how one accident ruins everyone. He'll get better if we get over it. It’s even getting cold outside!" She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to say anything?" She looked back at the boy on the ground, and he took in a breath.

"I'm Luka. You're Chloe, right? My sister is in your class, she's Juleka." He held out a hand for her to shake, and she pushed it away from herself.

"Juleka's brother? Oh please, don't tell me you can't show up in pictures either." She sat next to him and took out her phone, then proceeded to take a selfie. He barely smiled in it, only doing so out of politeness.

"I guess I don't have the photo curse." He gave a sad smile and continued to watch the gloomy clouds shift through the sky.

"What's got you down? Your face looks all messed up in this picture." She deleted the photo and frowned at Luka as if he were maniacal.

"Do you know Marinette? She's in your class too."

"The baker girl? What does this have to do with her?" She grunted. Marinette has been getting a ton of unnecessary attention lately. As if!

"Let's say she's found someone else to keep her eyes on."

"Oh please, get over it, she's not worth your time. I can hook you up with someone better. How about Sabrina? The nerdy one with the glasses?" Chloe offered. She'd known that Sabrina wasn't very interested in dating, but she was so stiff! If Chloe was going to have Adrikins in her life, then Sabrina needed herself a man too!

"But Marinette is worth Adrien's time?"

Chloe paused. Adrien? Her sweetheart? "What do you mean she's worth Adrien's time? The two barely know each other!"

"Whatever keeps you sleeping at night." He yawned and sunk into himself.

"What. Do. You. Mean." It wasn't so much of a question, moreso a statement, or even a demand.

Luka ran a hand through his hair lazily. "Marinette and Adrien are probably in love. I can see it, and you can't stop it. Try what you'd like, but I think it's gonna last a while."

"I won't allow it! That baker girl isn't meant for my Adrikins! No one is but ME!" She stood up within a second and began pacing. "What proof do you have?"

"I went ice skating with them and a girl named Kagami. You know what they say, Chloe. If you love someone, you let them go. Maybe Adrien will be happy with her, even if he doesn't realize it yet."

"Explain."

"It's not really for me to say, but I think they might like each other, mutually. I wouldn't interfere if I were you. Do you like Adrien?"

"I do, a lot. He's been my best friend since we were little tots in the play pen! This is a lot to take in." She sat back down and fanned herself with her hand. "You know what my mom says, if you can't get what you want, then quit it and get over it. If you can get it, you give it your all."

"That sounds meaningful. Put it on a coffee mug."

"Ugh! Don't give me sarcasm! My sweetheart might be taken by your sweetheart and we need to do something! We can't sit back and watch like hopeless little wimps!"

"Don't you want them to be happy? Why interfere? Adrien has potential, and so does Marinette. Just go with the flow, maybe there's someone better fit for you out there."

"You don't get it. I don't see myself with anyone else. I always get what I want, there's nothing I can't get, so I'll never quit."

"Maybe it's time for you to try."

That stung. Chloe had been so successful because of all of her hard work. Why would she dare let go of all of her morals that have proven positive just for some boy she just met? On top of that, he liked Marinette! Of all people! Utterly ridiculous! But he had a backbone, unlike Nathanael. Trying to persuade her rather than outright invalidating her? Honorable indeed. But was it worth listening to this stranger? His sister was inferior, why should she consider his opinions any worthy of her consideration?

 

But maybe, just maybe, he was right. This blue haired boy was no moralist, but he made a point. Adrien’s happiness in exchange for hers? It was difficult, but if he were sad, she’d be sad. But if he were happy with Marinette, she’d still be sad. Of course she would want to make Marinette sad, but what good outcome would Chloe get for herself? Maybe instead of making someone she doesn’t like sad, she should make someone she does like happy.

She should spice it up.

"Fine. Then what does that leave me to do now? I'll give up, alright, but then I sit here bored watching my whole world fall apart in front of me! No fair!"

"Focus on yourself. You're smart, Chloe, I can tell. It's time to get somewhere. Try looking into political sciences. Paris has only had one female mayor, you should be the next one once your father is done."

"It's not worth having power if you have no one to spoil."

"Are you not spoiling all of Paris? You're a hero after all."

"That's different. I want to buy my beloved all the gifts in the world just like my daddy did for me."

"Think about yourself first then. Write yourself a song. Think about what I say, then I'll think about what you're saying. Maybe I'll write a happy song." Luka left Chloe gaping as he took out his guitar and began playing a gentle tune with minor keys. It seemed sad, but beautiful. Suddenly, it gained pace and he strummed a positive chord. "See?"

"Fine. I'll hang out with Sabrina. There's nothing like a spa day to get over heartbreak." As she said that, her car drove up to the curb and she gathered her objects. "Finally. Took them long enough." She muttered.

"Wait, Chloe." He got up and took her phone from her hands.

"Hey, give that back!"

"Nope, look." He opened up the camera and flipped it to selfie mode, taking a picture. Chloe, being the photogenic masterpiece she saw herself as, smiled at the gesture, and Luka did the same. "Here," he handed the phone back, "I smiled this time."

"Thanks, Luka. Ugh, that was gross. I don't thank people. I take that back. But, uh, good talk." She walked away, her face red with both anger and delight.

How dare he defy her?

As much as Chloe hated to admit, however, she knew he had pushed her in the right direction.

What did he say again? Political sciences?

\-----

Nathalie: Housing will be addressed tonight. You will most likely be staying at the Bourgeois’ Hotel. I am sure you and Chloe are acquainted enough. I will be at the hospital until further notice.

“What’s that?” Marinette asked as Adrien looked down at his phone once again, now the third time this hour after checking in with Nathalie to tell her he was at the Dupain-Cheng’s, and then to discuss his meal for the night.

“I’m staying at Chloe’s place tonight I guess.” He showed Marinette his phone again and sighed. By then, they were already set up in the living room with their books scattered across the couch. “Now that we have Ms. Bustier’s reading done, we could finish physics!”

“Okay!” She began looking through her tablet for the notes. This was the first time she’s doing her homework on time for weeks! No akuma attacks since last Monday when Lila was akumatized again.

She’d only been making school a burning hell! At least Adrien had seen through her, it’s taken Marinette everything in her to not expose the liar.

Tuesday: Lila shared pictures of her in Ali’s palace that were obviously photoshopped. Not easily spotted by the normal eye, but clearly evident to Marinette, a trained artist.

Wednesday: Lila showed everyone a golden bangle that no one seemed to recognize as Chloe’s from before, meanwhile Chloe and Sabrina had skipped school until lunch looking for it; Lila was sans bracelet after break, when the other two girls returned.

Thursday: Lila convinced everyone that she had a genetic mutation that allowed her to see colors beyond the human spectrum. When asked how, she said it was a scientific miracle. God knows how everyone believed that. Everyone forgot by the next day.

Friday: Lila told the class that she and Adrien were going to work on the day’s project together, and that their group was very exclusive, meaning no one could work with them. She told everyone that the arrangement was set in stone, also giving Marinette a side glare in the process. When groups were determined, Adrien was definitely not with her, he had no idea of the arrangement, and no one mentioned it again.

But still, with the people happy, and Hawk Moth suddenly gone, it seemed a little bit too quiet in Paris. Maybe she should see Master Fu, because that villain could have something planned.

She should also see him with Chat Noir about how that giant butterfly blew them away. That was awfully weird.

“Are you good with the lessons? They’re pretty basic right now, the rotational stuff is where is gets complicated.”

“Uh, right! Yes they’re not so hard right now. Easy peasy.” Marinette almost squealed after she got startled by his statement. Her thoughts are always getting the best of her nowadays.

A few more minutes of silence and equations passed by until Adrien was done, saying so when he put away his tablet.

“You’re already done? I still have like three problems left! I’m only on number seven.” Marinette stared at her notes and work back and forth, growing a small headache.

“Having trouble? That one stumped me too. Here.” He scooted next to her and showed her how to go about the problem. A different approach is all she needed.

Maybe physics isn’t the only thing she needed a different approach on.

Adrien didn’t even mention her kiss! What was the point? Was this what rejection feels like? Was he rejecting her? What the heck! She’d ask him about it if only she weren’t so nervous. A friend was what he needed, and it’s what they needed to be for her stutter to stop.

It wasn’t long before the physics was done.

“How about a movie? We still have a few hours until dinner time.” Marinette offered. It was only about five in the afternoon and the bakery was still busy downstairs.

“Sounds good to me. What do you have?”

“Look in that stack over there,” she pointed to all of her movies in the corner for him to search, “I’ll get some more snacks while you decide.” She smiled and tidied up a bit before going to the kitchen to microwave some packs of popcorn, preparing two large bowls and blankets. When she returned, Marinette was surprised at the selection Adrien had put into the television’s player.

Tangled. Adrien picked Tangled of all movies.

Comedy gold he was.

“Tangled it is! Have you seen it before?” She asked, handing him the blue blanket and one of the bowls. She totally dropped the popcorn bowl in the process, but Adrien somehow caught it with only a few kernels falling on the floor. Marinette was only in awe with this golden goodness of a boy.

As much as she hated it, Marinette realized that this movie was mostly just Adrien’s gasping at certain details here and there as she was extremely self conscious. Was she eating too loud? Was she breathing too hard? Was she sitting too close? Holding her blanket weird? The limits were endless, and following the end of the movie, they watched the ongoing news.

“Doesn’t Paris seem a little happy, Marinette?” Huh, so she wasn’t the only one who noticed after all.

No villains, no criminals, the city was oddly quiet.

“Nevermind, that was a really bad question, who wouldn’t want Paris to be hap-”

“No, Adrien, I get what you mean.” She silenced him, thinking profusely at this situation.

No villains in a week, no odd or strange events in the past few days, it was suspicious.

“You do?” Adrien asked, finding it rather interesting how Marinette considered what he had said. He thought it was his super hero instincts making him paranoid, but if a civilian such as his friend here thought so as well, then something much be up.

“Nothing really bad has happened lately. No bank robberies or fires, no akumatized villains since Lila was Chameleon and impersonated me. I guess it’s not a bad thing, but it seems quiet. I haven’t seen Ladybug or Chat Noir in what feels like ages, I guess I miss them.” She vented exactly what she felt. Seeing Adrien in a friendly stance made her comfortable. Of course her feelings would never falter, she was in love after all, but seeing him in a new light wasn’t all the bad.

It was Chat Noir she really missed, it had been quite a while and they hadn’t spent any of this freetime together. Maybe it was the unsettling feeling that something would happen if they were seen out.

“Exactly.” Was his simple response, until he took a breath to continue, but was interrupted by the “Breaking News” jingle on the television, making him choke on his own air.

Before she asked what was wrong, she tuned in to the television, Nadja going on about updates on this story.

“Day two of the Agreste Mansion being destroyed, and Gabriel Agreste is still hospitalized in critical condition. Our question is, where was Ladybug? Is she able to fix this destruction? More information as the story develops. Don’t be a muse, it’s just the news!” Marinette tuned out anything else the anchor needed to say and stared at Adrien for a bit as he had a blank expression, looking at the television with that blank expression.

This is why he was crying.

This is why he wasn’t home.

This is why he was falling apart.

And he had the nerve to keep his composure in her home nonetheless.

“Adrien, I had no idea…”

“You don’t need to say anything, don’t worry about it. Please.” Adrien finished succinctly, wiping his face and rolling up the sleeves on his black Chat Noir themed sweatshirt.

“But-”

“Kids, dinner!” Sabine called from a few feet away in the kitchen. Marinette didn’t notice the aroma of the food brought from the Quarter Asiatique until that moment, and she could hear her father hauling in two large brown paper bags along with the thunk as they landed on the counter.

How did he keep it all in all day, save for the period of time he had cried on Alya and Nino’s shoulders, he was completely happy, keeping his model like front and acting normal. Why was he even at school?

Marinette hadn’t talked to Adrien during dinner; she had no idea what to say after she found out what happened. He, however, engaged in plenty of conversation with her parents, sparing her a glance now and then as she ate without a word.

“Marinette, you have something to say about it?” Tom asked, then promptly began struggling with a chewy pork wonton.

Well that caught her off guard.

“Excuse me what?”

“The Bourgeois are planning their New Year’s gala rather early, wouldn’t you think?” Adrien reminded, the remnants of a smile still making their way to his face.

How was he able to act like nothing ever happened? He doesn’t have a home or a father right now and he’s bringing up politics? It was crazy what kind of faces he could hold in front of someone if he wanted to, and Marinette so desperately wanted to see through it.

“Yeah, that’s a little weird, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chloe invited the whole class except for me again.”

“I doubt it, Chloe can be different if she so chooses.” Adrien defended.

“I’d hope so. A nice night to party with my friends wouldn’t be something I want to pass up, even if I’m more of a wallflower.”

“Nonsense, you and I danced at Chloe’s party last year! It was really fun!”

“Well…” Marinette chuckled, and her parents just looked at their exchange with a questionable state. “We can only hope, right?”

“Right. Your father and I were asked to cater desserts, it would be surprising if you weren’t allowed to come as well.” Sabine added, beginning to stack the now empty plates on the table.

“Agreed,” Tom finished, picking up the rest of the trash and containers to recycle.

“Marinette, I’ll excuse you from the dishes tonight, you and Adrien can spend some time together in the family room until he’s picked up.” Sabine said, sending a knowing smirk to the teenagers.

“Oh, uh, thanks mom!” Marinette squealed in shame, walking back to her spot on the couch with her head down. Adrien followed close behind her, fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie even more.

“When will he be picked up, exactly?” Tom whispered to Sabine once he started the dishes, which, not to mention, were Marinette’s chore until she ran away with that boy in the other room.

“Oh, I’m not sure, and neither is he. You and I have seen the news, his home is in shambles! His father is in the hospital!”

“He can’t stay here all night, Sabine, and Marinette can’t spend every second with him of the day if this continues.”

“But he hasn’t done anything but keep her company. I know what it’s like to be an only child with the lack of a companion, it’s nice to change things up. It’s why we let her out of the house with her friends often, so what’s the difference here?”

“She loves him, that’s the difference.”

“But at least she’s under her own roof enjoying herself, not out on the city with a boy we don’t even know. She’s a good girl and she isn’t going to be in any trouble. This is our Marinette, she’s better than any of that.”

“It doesn’t matter what she does, it matters what he does.”

Oh, Sabine didn’t think about that. She completely misunderstood what Tom was getting at.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking. This is Adrien for heaven’s sake, what would he do wrong? I don’t know what he could do wrong, and that worries me.”

Sabine nodded for him to continue.

“It’s just my instinct to protect my daughter is all.”

“Oh Tom.” Sabine embraced her husband with a gentle heart. “That’s only how Marinette learns. I believe the happiness during a relationship outweighs the hardship before and heartbreak after. Her heart has so much love to give, who better than Adrien?”

“I see now, but I’ll be keeping my eye on them.”

“Alright Tom, as long as we’re on the same page.” She returned to watching over the kids, who were focused on some television shows.

“I never knew how good Chinese takeout could be.” Adrien let out a satisfied yawn.

“What do you mean?” Marinette yawned right after beginning to sink into her blanket. It was so soft and fluffy, she couldn’t refuse!

“When you haven’t had it in three years, it tastes better.”

“Three years? That’s insane!” Marinette yelped in shock. The inhumanity!

“Yeah, heh.” Adrien’s eyes were heavy. He hadn’t been this full in ages, he could doze off any second…

“Adrien, honey, it’s time to wake up.” A soft yet assertive voice rang in his ears. He felt gentle pressure against his arms, but also felt like he was on a warm and forgiving cloud of rest. He cracked his eyes open and was met with more darkness, save the glow of the city from the window. It was now dark night outside, and his surroundings smelled somewhat of snickerdoodles.

Sabine was waking him up.

He went to shift himself up, as he inferred that Nathalie was most likely on her way to pick him up, but a weight kept his right arm from doing anything within this hazy dark paradise.

Marinette was sleeping on him.

“Don’t mind her, dear, I’ll get her upstairs in a jiffy.” Sabine rubbed her daughter’s arm as if to wake her more.

“I’m awake, maman.” Marinette mumbled.

“Now get off the poor boy and let him leave.”

It was at that instance that Adrien realized he was asleep on Marinette’s couch with her asleep on top of his shoulder, and it felt rather fulfilling. A nap during what he’s been through was rather nourishing.

And the rush of blood that surged to Marinette’s face when she realized she fell asleep on top of Adrien was unmistakable, and would have been noticed by all if it weren’t for the lights all being turned down in the whole house apart from the kitchen.

“Err, yeah, good night Adrien.” Marinette waved as Adrien walked out the apartment doors with his backpack strapped.

“See you tomorrow, Marinette.” And he walked off.

“Alright now, young lady,” Marinette turned around and looked at her speaking mother up the staircase. “Inside you go, I have some snickerdoodles and cold milk waiting for you.”

“Thank you maman.”

“And you and Adrien are on shoulder sleeping terms now?”

“What! No! That was an accident!”

“I know, darling, I know.”

“Okay.” Marinette sat and ate her cookies alone, her mother kissing her goodnight when Marinette was sitting at the counter and munching away.

“Tikki, do you want some?” She offered.

“Sure thing!” The kwami popped out of Marinette’s sweatshirt pocket and sat on the counter, eating with her holder.

After quickly snacking, Marinette was off to bed, but was still wide awake, thinking about her loved one.

Meanwhile, Adrien wasn’t too far off.

The ride to the hotel wasn’t what he was expecting. It wasn’t as if the Gorilla actually spoke, but he showed concern for the boy until waved it off. The butlers at the hotel even asked him how his day was and if he had any special requests, all of which Adrien declined respectfully.

Marinette was on his mind, she had been so gracious today and he couldn’t get her family out of his mind. This afternoon went by too quickly.

Then again, he was also feeling nostalgic for his lady. They hadn’t interacted in a week, and it didn’t feel as though they were never going to see each other again, but he felt like he should have properly said goodbye before parting ways that last time.

He didn’t think that would be the last time.

It probably wasn’t the last time, as this city wide silence felt like it was brewing Hawk Moth’s plan, but the spotted heroine still had a special place in his mind at all times.

He wondered what she was up to now.

But the streak of red he spotted from the corner of his eye during his late night pondering sparked his interest.

\-----

"Tikki, transform me!" Although she often transformed in the ungodly hours of the night, not every time was solely to battle a new villain. This time, it was merely for a retreat to clear her mind and spend her free time enjoying herself. After all, the autumn breezes were beginning to flow, and the sweet scents of the stars took over her senses as she floated above the city.

She bounded against buildings, light poles, and landmarks to reach the biggest destination of all: the famous Eiffel Tower.

But here was the twist, she wasn't here just to sit around, she was using it as a time of self-discovery.

Nah, that's dumb.

She was doing her homework, the homework she told Adrien she had done before so she wouldn’t be so much behind him, and she thought a change of setting would give her motivation, even though it was painstakingly boring.

She took out her tablet and notes, illuminating her face in the dark night. From the part of the tower she was perched on, the flashing lights on the landmark didn't reach her, leaving her unnoticed and in peace. After all, it was one in the morning.

In her backpack, which was larger than normal, she stored some of those leftover snicker doodles to satisfy her midnight hunger.

Writing away with her stylus, she was shocked to hear the steps of oh-too-familiar boots on the metal of the tower.

"Who's there?" He asked, and Marinette gathered her items and tried sneaking around before being seen.

"I know someone's there, I saw you walking around. It's just me, your friendly neighborhood Chat Noir!" He teased, still looking around through the structures.

"CRAP!" She yelped, tripping over thin air and landing harshly with a thud. By then, Chat Noir had located her, looking at her gather her backpack and purse.

"You? Uh, Marinette, right?" He gasped, helping her up.

"Yeah." She dusted herself off and put her backpack on.

"How did you even get here? This place isn't accessible to the general public, and it's really late. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I just... climbed here. Yes." She said, matter of factly. "Why are you out? There isn't trouble, is there?"

"No, I've just been restless lately, and I thought I saw Ladybug out, which could have meant trouble, but I scoped out the city and saw nothing except a girl on the tower."

“Oh, well, uh, I should probably get back home now then…” Marinette began walking in the opposite direction, she wanted this awkward conversation to end and didn’t want Chat Noir to discover her too soon either.

“I won’t question how you were able to climb up the Eiffel Tower, but I will get you down safely. Your balcony is quite a distance away and it’s late.” Chat followed her, touching her shoulder to stop her from walking away to… wherever she was walking away to.

“It’s really fine! I can get myself home just fine! It’s only ten o’clock!” Marinette smiled saccharinely, trying to walk off to a nonexistent staircase.

“Try one in the morning.”

“Oh! Well, that’s still not very late. I can get home alright still!”

“No no, I’m taking you there. Come here.” He gestured towards himself with two fingers and Marinette sighed, but complied. It was probably the easiest way out of this situation anyways, even if it meant she’d probably not have the chance to go out unnoticed again.

He carried her bridal style and they both braced for the winds as they jumped off the tower, the evening chill finally making itself apparent.

The trip was nearly silent save for Marinette’s occasional squeak. Sure, she was a super heroine who did feats much more daring than being carried by a cat around the city, but that feeling of vulnerability had seeped through her mind as the protection and power of her suit wasn’t there for her.

It wasn’t a fear of falling or a fear of being dropped, she trusted her partner with her life, but it was the sudden chill of being unprotected that made her feel this way.

She trusted Chat, but she rarely trusted herself.

They arrived on the balcony, and Chat Noir was quite proud that the trip had gone smooth, and for some reason, something inside him said to keep this girl as safe as possible so she wouldn’t be disappointed. He just really didn’t want to feel embarrassed around her.

But it definitely wasn’t because he liked her or anything.

“So it’s around one thirty in the morning now, are you going to go to the Louvre next?” He asked flirtatiously, even if it wasn’t intended that way.

“Very funny, but I think I’m just going to sleep. It’s been a long day. Thank you Chat Noir!” She waved as she went down into her trap door, no more words said.

He continued vaulting off into the distance, blushing at himself after realizing how foolish he had been. She could have thought he was a stalker, even if he coincidentally managed to be in the right place at the right time.

Thinking about that, he hadn’t even seen Ladybug in a while, there were no villains to fight so there was no reason to go out. Her being out and about gave him hope, but it was just him seeing things again.

All he found was Marinette instead.

Marinette was really nice and even pretty too, and today proved she had a giving personality as well. With no hesitation, she took him into her home to spend the day, and she was very productive as well! Her class representative role was well deserved, and he could see why Ms. Bustier and the class would select her so graciously.

Maybe Plagg was right, maybe loving Ladybug wasn’t the right decision after all.

But he can’t think that way! How dare he betray his one and only love for someone else just like that! He promised himself that he would wait, and that’s just what he intended to do, but the heart wants what it wants…

“Detransform me.” He muttered in the darkness of the balcony. He had already been settled in one of the suites at the Bourgeois’ hotel, and it felt so unnatural to change his destination to here. It was just something he needed to get used to, even if it was his fault.

“Of course, after the baker girl once again? Make up your mind, kid.” The grumpy kwami complained once again, fluttering around his holder.

“No, Plagg, I already told you, it isn’t like that with Marinette and me.” Adrien shooed him off while walking inside the lavishly decorated hotel room.

“But you might want that to change. You tried it with Kagami, maybe you should try with Marinette this time.” Plagg at this point was taunting him. He knew he loved Ladybug, but it would just be easier if he went for her civilian form!

“What would make this any different? My heart would always go back to Ladybug, and she’s who I really love. Why would I betray that feeling for someone new?” By now, Adrien was washing his face, looking at his kwami through the mirror.

“Baker girl isn’t just someone new, she’s someone who’s always been there for you, even after you put gum on her seat!” Plagg chanted.

“I was taking it off, you know this Plagg!” Adrien dried his face with a towel and stormed to his bed.

“And I also know she may be the one for you!”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Really?” Plagg beamed. These kids were so dumb, and finally Adrien was thinking with some common sense!

“Really, as long as it gets you to be quiet so I can go to bed.” The blonde boy tucked himself into bed and switched off the lamp next to him, hoping for some peace and quiet.

“Good night then!” The kwami zoomed away to where Adrien had laid a pillow and some camembert that he ordered earlier, and Adrien turned out the light, drifting away in the darkness.

Peace and quiet was all his mind needed.


	2. The Readjustments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which chloe is rudely wholesome, nathalie is a little crazy, and everyone is confused
> 
> also nino comes in clutch

Adrien’s eyes fluttered open with a lack of familiarity. Two mornings ago, he would have woken up in the comfort of his room. The morning after that, he was in a hospital bed- not because he was hurt, and it was a miracle he wasn’t, but merely as a precaution, such as if he faced complications due to all the smoke, or if the impact from his fall in the dash away from that rumbling household would have caused him to break a bone.

But no, he was fine. Perfectly fine, even if he didn’t deserve to be.

He let out a groggy sigh. It was much too early for him to be awake, yet he was staring at his roof thinking about where he went wrong.

So, very wrong.

He would just need to deal with it, or at least hope his troubles would deal with themselves.

\-----

The adrenaline was exciting.

Transforming for a few minutes, even without using an ounce of her power, was life changing.

She felt as if she lost all side effects of using a damaged peacock miraculous, as if time turned back for her, but she came back more invigorated than ever.

Now it was time to get to work.

It was after midnight, so it was probably best if she sent for Adrien to be gathered from that bakery and brought to the Bourgeois’, and as for Nathalie, she would remain in the hospital.

Adrien wasn’t who mattered right now, her eyes were on Gabriel.

She did care for him a great deal, but it was different now.

Gabriel needed her more than Adrien right now.

Or did she need Gabriel more than she needed Adrien?

She had woken up the following morning to Gabriel groaning in some type of pain, progressively getting louder and more unbearable.

“Mr. Agreste, what’s wrong?” She straightened up her glasses and became suddenly attentive.

“My stomach, it- it hurts, it’s unendurable…” He stopped his stuttering and continued groaning, leaving Nathalie to rise up and call over the doctor.

“Mr. Agreste, tell me what exactly hurts.” The unexpectedly calm Dr. Arzt began looking through his clipboard and continued the conversation. Nathalie tuned it out and looked on her tablet whilst making her way to the waiting room once again.

Maybe it would be best to take some time off her boss and to care for Adrien. She hadn’t seen him in a decent amount of time, and she admitted to being rather obsessive over Gabriel since the incident.

Right, the incident. It wasn’t until now that Nathalie had even wondered about how Adrien handled it. She was being unreasonably selfish as of late, though she saw it to be justifiable.

So she went to a nurse and requested them to notify Gabriel of a short leave when he was better, and Nathalie was on her way.

The Gorilla was able to pick her up and assisted with avoiding any paparazzi that was still stalking in front of the hospital, and the drive was quiet and solemn as always.

After checking into her suite in the Bourgeois’ hotel, she went straight to the shower. Clearing her mind with the constant flow of water down her back with the rain like dripping serenading her ears was her epitome of relaxation.

A butler had a freshly pressed suit ready for Nathalie on her bed, and while that would normally sound reassuring, it was apparently chosen by Audrey.

Nathalie always thought Audrey’s style was beautiful, but it was a little too out of the box for the esteemed assistant to see herself wearing.

But that is why she was very impressed to see a black jacket and pencil skirt set placed beside a burgundy turtleneck ready for her to wear.

Seeing herself put together for the first time in days made her realize that her job was still in place, even with the tremendous workload in her way. If anything, her role with this family was as crucial as ever.

“Madame Sancoeur?” One of the butlers knocked on the door to her room.

“Uh, yes, come in please.” She adjusted her hair and suit to look professional and put together, as always.

“Would you like Monsieur Agreste to be driven to school with Mademoiselle Bourgeois and her chauffeur?”

She thought about her being able to talk to the troubled boy, helping him through these hardships had been forced to go through alone. She thought about how only a few hours ago she wouldn’t even spare him a thought.

A change in location was what she needed to get her senses aligned once again.

“I will be escorting him with the Gorilla. Thank you.”

She later found Adrien once he finished his breakfast with Chloe, and he didn’t seem very entertained.

“Oh, Nathalie, hi.” Adrien held one arm in the other and looked down awkwardly.

She saw the trouble behind his eyes, the sadness behind his forced smile, like his poses for photo shoots.

By then, the butler and Chloe left, so Nathalie found no shame in bending down and hugging Adrien.

He was shocked to say the least, but gave into the warmth. It was one of the first times she had shown him affection, but it was what he needed.

Chloe as of late had been pushy, always bringing up the subject and gloating about how great of a friend she had been for Adrien, when in reality she hadn’t done anything but offer her home to him. He was still appreciative nonetheless.

“I am sorry Adrien.” Nathalie whispered, parting the hug slightly to look him in the eyes.

“Why? Why?” Adrien was trembling. Whenever he was reminded of the incident, he would begin to relive the experience in his mind. The sounds of the walls crumbling, the hazy smoke blinding his senses, the darkness that followed…

“You can stay here today, you don’t have to go to school if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have made you go yesterday.”

The tears from the young boy began.

He hugged tighter and hiccuped.

“It’s alright… it’s alright Nath… Nathalie.” he sobbed more before continuing, “I’ll go, I’ll go, I’m so so sorry…” He kept crying and slacked his weight, leaning on to Nathalie’s figure.

It reminded him of his mother.

“You shouldn’t be sorry for anything Adrien.” She backed away from him and helped him stand straight on his own.

“Oh, okay.” He wiped his eyes and nose on his hoodie, one Nathalie recognized to belong to his father back in the day, and sniffled some more.

“Your father will be better soon, and it is alright if you take your classes and lessons off for a few days. Yesterday must have been torture, and we should have had a leave organized in advance.” 

“It’s real-really alright, I can go to school. My fr-friends have been, uh, helping me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! Uh, Marinette yesterday got my mind off of-of it and um, Nino and uh, Nino and Alya were there too.” Despite his short episode a minute before, his voice began to reflect some type of enthusiasm. 

He felt as if he were talking to his own mother about how his day went, like when he’d give details of his rather obscure photo shoots or of a lesson when he came home to her a few years ago.

The nostalgia warmed his heart just a little more.

“I will see that transportation is organized then. Should you wish to leave school, simply dial your chauffeur and we can make an arrangement.”

“Understood.” Adrien looked at Nathalie intently as she jumped and put a hand on her chest.

“I will be on my way then. Enjoy your day.” She quickly walked away into another room, leaving Adrien to his thoughts.

Little did he know that she felt negativity a few streets away, and she was ready to strike.

Nathalie had jumped at the unfamiliar feeling of a negative presence within the brooch. She ran across town to the hospital Gabriel resided in, and was greeted by hoards of nurses crowding the room around the celebrity as well.

“What is happening?” She asked one of the nurses in the middle of the chaos.

“Gabriel had experienced pain this morning, and when observed, we noticed he suffered from appendicitis, and his appendix was soon going to rupture after expanding too much. An appendicectomy is normally easy and harmless in the long term, but Gabriel faced an allergic reaction to the anesthetics issued by Doctor Artz.”

Worry filled Nathalie’s eyes, and she glanced around, unable to see her love on the other side of the waiting room door. “What does this mean then?”

“Gabriel had fallen into a medically induced coma.” The nurse looked down in shame, then walked away and left Nathalie to sit in stress.

Doctor Artz was overwhelmed at the angry backlash. That was the negativity.

“I- I didn’t know of this allergy! I didn’t know he would react this way! This cannot possibly be my fault! None of these files record any severe allergies that could have caused anaphylaxis!” He defended himself, but scolding from various colleagues continued to nag at him.

The negativity belonged to Doctor Artz. Perfect prey.

Her blood boiled. Gabriel, in a coma? All he was doing was saving his wife, and one person gets in the way and destroys his plan, and destroyed his home too.

She faced animosity toward Dr. Artz and the person responsible for wrecking the Agreste manor. They were the reason Gabriel is here now, comatose. She couldn’t stand to see him this way, not at all.

Her sweet Gabriel will be back soon, as long as she was in possession of the power.

This mistake, although tragic, will work perfectly in her benefit.

All she needed to do was transform.

\-----

“Just give them to him! That’s what he needs!”

“No way! The last thing he needs is reminders! I should have thought this through a little more.”

“Nonsense! You don’t have to say anything about it, just say you baked some cookies and thought he’d like some!”

“I would seem so stalkerish! Ugh! Thinking about him!”

“Don’t think about any of it then! Go give him the cookies already!” Alya pushed Marinette in Adrien’s direction, and he was heading towards the staircase to get to class.

She caught up to him, box of cookies in hand, but when she looked at his puffy and irritated eyes, she froze.

“Hey Marinette, are you alright?” Adrien asked, waving a hand in front of her petrified face.

Was she alright? To hell with that! He didn’t even look the slightest bit _alright_ and he dare ask her about her well being!

Ridiculous!

“I’m fiiiiiine! Look! I brought, uh, cookies!” She offered the box sheepishly, and Adrien graciously accepted the dozen.

“Thank you Marinette, but you didn’t have to.” He took a quick whiff of the treats. Snickerdoodles. Like the ones he smelled last night.

“Nonsense! It’s the least I could do, that’s what friends are for, right?”

“Of course, yeah! Thanks again.” They began walking up the stairs together towards Ms. Bustier’s classroom.

“No problem, but I have a question, actually…” Marinette began, eyeing Adrien carefully.

He hoped that it wouldn’t be about his broken home, or his father, or any of the other crazy things that had been happening. He hoped that nothing too emotional would be brought up. He hoped he wouldn’t cry again.

He didn’t want anyone to see him cry.

“Where did you get that hoodie? I haven’t seen anything like it before from the Gabriel line.” Marinette was hoping that wouldn’t be too prying, and that the subtle mention of his father wouldn’t trigger him.

She could tell that he didn’t want it to be brought up anymore.

“Oh, it was a prototype for one of my father’s debut casual lines back in ‘06. He wore it all the time when I was a kid, and he said it was my favorite one to pull on and pick at. I found it in a box in his closet a few weeks ago and took it. You know, it’s fall and all and things are getting a bit chilly, and hoodies seem to be really comfy!” He stopped himself from rambling even more, and checked on Marinette’s expression waiting to see boredom, but was pleasantly surprised by her interest.

She was interested in what he had to say!

She gently tugged on the side of a sleeve, and looked at his green eyes, as if she were asking for approval. He simply nodded.

From there, Marinette carefully observed the charcoal gray fabric and the tape-like lining that went down the sleeve, hiding the hem. Although that design choice was common in current clothing, coming from, what was it? 2006? It was ahead of its time. She only assumed it never made it to the final line, which was quite shameful.

“For its time, this is a masterpiece!” Marinette gushed.

“Well, I only expect the best from my father, right?” Adrien laughed, thinking about his father’s condition only slightly before pushing it away.

“Yeah, of course.” Marinette agreed as she took her seat in the classroom.

“Oh shoot, Nino isn’t going to be here today…” Adrien pondered, and then promptly sat down with his cookies, contemplating the situation.

He didn’t mind Lila’s company, but something about her made him think she would be the person to bring up his home and father. He had a feeling she would take this opportunity to sit with him, and sank further into his seat at the thought.

“I can sit with you, if you’d like. I’m sure Alya would be fine with it for a day.” Marinette’s offer made Adrien’s face light up, and he gladly nodded yes.

That’s another thing Marinette noticed. Instead of politely insisting she have a seat in her own spot, or keep her own cookies, he accepted it. Maybe it was so he wouldn’t have to go through more back and forth conversation, or maybe he needed all the help he could get, but Marinette accepted this detail nonetheless.

“Why isn’t Nino here anyways?” She questioned him a little further, just to make some conversation and dwindle out the slight discomfort she felt.

“Something about remodeling his brother’s room to fit new furniture. He always jumps in to help with that kind of stuff.” He replied between bites of cookies. “And here, take one for yourself.”

It wasn’t as if Marinette hadn’t had enough snickerdoodles, but they were so delicious, she couldn’t refuse! “Thanks, and yeah, that’s Nino, always helping to save the day.”

“Yeah! He saved the day on my first time coming to school, he was the first friend I made here. Was he always like that?”

“I didn’t really know Nino until last year, actually. Before, I just hung out with Ivan, Juleka, and Rose.” Marinette thought. It was roughly a year and a couple months ago that her life changed and she was able to make all these new friends. “A lot has changed since you came Adrien, for the better.”

They exchanged glances and smiled at each other, and Adrien felt his heart beating a little harder at the eye contact.

But she wasn’t Ladybug.

Those blue eyes Marinette had felt so comfortable and familiar, though, and she felt like home, even when he didn’t have one. Maybe since he hadn’t seen Ladybug in so long, he couldn’t remember how she made him feel, which was why Marinette was all he had on his mind.

Nope. Can’t think about girls now.

“Thanks Marinette. It means a lot to hear that.” He ended his thought’s ramble there, and decided to look at who else was entering the classroom.

As expected, Lila walked into the room wanting to sit with Adrien, knowing Nino wouldn’t be in class that day, and was furious to see Marinette already sitting in that front row, enjoying cookies with the golden boy.

Ugh, she was just going to have to settle with something different. If she can’t have the boy, she’ll have the best friend. Maybe brainwash her while she was at it.

“Alya! Would you mind if I take a seat next to you? I couldn’t help but notice that your best friend had abandoned you! What a shame.” Lila commented, not waiting for a response before taking a seat.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say Marinette abandoned me, but you can totally sit here, yeah.” Alya chuckled.

“So you’re okay with her just leaving you for her crush just like that?”

What? Alya never thought of Marinette to be selfish like that. “No, Lila, you have it all wrong! Marinette isn’t really leaving, she’s just branching out!” Lila was probably just confused and concerned. She doesn’t know Marinette very well and probably doesn’t know about how cool of a girl she is!

“Whatever you say.” Lila smiled, but rolled her eyes to the side. Some of these people can be so dense and oblivious! She will eventually find a way to sway Alya, because if she tries too much now, it would seem suspicious. “So how are things with Nino?”

“Oh, Nino’s just great. You walk with him to school, so you’d know, right?”

“Yeah! Right…”

“Okay class, settle down, I’ll be taking attendance now.” Ms. Bustier hushed the class and peered at her clipboard.

Lila just sat miserably in the second row, watching Marinette and Adrien share cookies as the teacher called role.

She sat so still, it seemed unnatural.

Alya was the first to notice.

“Lila, are you alright?” She asked.

Lila didn’t move one bit. Not even a blink.

Waving a hand in front of her face, Alya called the attention of others in the room, only to find Rose, Juleka, and Max also frozen in time within an instant.

It was already cloudy and dark outside from the soon-to-begin rain, and only the silhouettes of students could be seen once the lights in the classroom went out.

Marinette soon noticed that the buildings across, at least those in view from the window, were also out of power.

“Everyone! Please! Settle down and take cover!” Ms. Bustier was trying her best to keep the children collected, even through the shrieks coming from Ms. Mendeleive’s room next door. The confusion and commotion worsened when the teacher herself froze.

Marinette ran off without a single word, slipping out without anyone noticing.

“Everyone! Get under a desk like Ms. Bustier said! We don’t know who-“ Havok began breaking when Alya froze in the middle of her words. Adrien looked closer and saw a circular red mark on Alya’s arm, and it was heavily pigmented but small. He observed Lila had the same mark on her collarbone. So did Ms. Bustier.

These were darts of some kind, the one that flew onto Alya was apparent to everyone, but no one knew the man behind all of this or where the villain was.

Hawk Moth was back.

But how?

“Everyone, I’m going to go and look for the heroes!” Adrien took Alya’s phone from her stiff, unmoving grasp. “I’ll take this to try and record the villain on the Ladyblog, but the rest of you need to make sure you stay protected behind the desks!”

“Are you sure, Adrien? What if you get shot?” Kim asked, still moving desks and seats to a corner of the room as he was requested to.

“Then I’ll get shot trying. I’m sure the heroes will fix it all in the end.” With that, he ran off, cautiously sneaking into a vacant bathroom and locking the door.

“Plagg, this is unlike anything we’ve seen Hawk Moth do before. The villain is so silent but effective, and it hasn’t even made any news.” Adrien wandered around the area, pacing back and forth while looking through the Ladyblog on Alya’s phone.

“I don’t understand what you mean, Hawk Moth has made mysterious villains before, like Vanisher!” Plagg replied, following around his holder. Although he would normally disregard any conclusions Adrien jumped to, he felt an uneasy presence with Hawk Moth’s latest transformation, and believed that these instincts were to be trusted.

“What do we do if we get shot by whatever those red things are? We don’t even know where they’re coming from, and I don’t think we can afford being caught.” Adrien sighed and ran a hand through his hair in stress. “And who is this? I thought we had-”

“Hawk Moth’s latest transformation…” Plagg began.

“What about it?”

“It was full of vengeance and a different type of anger than Hawk Moth normally has. Something in the past week definitely changed, and I think you know why…”

“Agh,” Adrien scoffed and squeezed his hands together. “We need to figure out identity later, we have someone in the school hot in our tracks!”

“Then we better get looking, so let’s transform!”

“You’re right. Plagg, transform me!”

He thought transforming with a purpose was so unfamiliar, but invigorating at the same time. All he needed to do now was find his partner and find the villain.

And where was Marinette?

He heard a scream, thinking it was her, but it was none other than Sabrina, coming from the classroom. Him thinking about Marinette so much more lately is making him think everything is about her now…

Right! Sabrina! He should probably go back to the classroom, transformed this time.

Upon his return, he saw Sabrina looking at her best friend in horror, and he verified Chloe had the same red spot on her face.

Chloe was frozen in a position that seemed like she was jumping in front of the crowd, her hands spread out and her eyes closed - bracing for impact. 

She was trying to protect them from the villain.

“Chat Noir! The evil guy came from outside! He shot Chloe and went back up to the roof!” Ivan shook with anticipation. He didn’t know what it was about this villain, but everyone seemed significantly more afraid of this villain than any others. It may have been the sudden outbreak, or the students being stuck in darkness, but the worry made the lone superhero less assured of his task at hand.

“He was really tall!” Mylene added, standing up from behind the laid down desk. “And he wore this black and red cape and a hood! And he had this gun that looked like a… oh goodness, I can’t…” Mylene fell down back behind the desk, and was replaced by Nathanael.

“It looked like this!” Chat Noir took a step closer to look at the sketch pad, revealing a large syringe type projectile.

“Everyone! Follow me!” He ran with the remaining students close behind, and the fretful Mylene was being carried by her significant other. They stopped once they reached the art room, and he gestured to a closet, one without windows. “Hide in there, and don’t come out until you know things are safe. Use the Ladyblog!”

More yelps rang in his ears from other parts of the school, and Chat Noir used his baton to jump out of the art room’s window and bound to the roof of the school to find the akumatized victim.

And from up there, he saw Marinette on the school’s courtyard, frozen in place.

The heartbeat in his chest intensified, and he quickly bounded down from the roof to meet her in front of the school, by the steps where she was stopped.

He didn’t know she was trying to run to safety to transform.

And he didn’t know that she was being chased by the villain himself.

Not Marinette. Why did Marinette make him feel so guilty all of a sudden? Something about her being hit by whatever this anomaly was made the urgency of the situation raise to even further heights.

It felt like the same urgency he would experience when Ladybug was in trouble, and he would make some sacrifice to save her.

He looked into her unfocused stare, her mouth open in a scream and her hand extended forth as if she was reaching for her life.

Glancing down in the direction her hand was headed towards, he observed her purse and some of its contents scattered on the ground, including a box of mini macarons with the bakery crest inscribed on the top and a pack of post its.

He gathered everything, put it back into the small pink bag, and placed it on the edge of her shoulder, allowing his hand to linger for just a bit before he leaned into her ear.

“I promise,” he put a hand on her cheek, “I will fix this.”

At that moment, Chat was barely missed by a red ball of some sort barely missing his nose and flying at immeasurable speeds before hitting a wall of the school. He swiftly turned to the source of that bullet like object, and saw himself feet away from a large figure.

The black and red cloak, the syringe, it was all there.

Another red bullet was shot. Chat Noir dodged it once again, then stopped to catch his breath from the sudden jump.

How could Hawk Moth make another villain? Chat Noir thought what he did just a few nights ago would’ve… Nope. No time to think of that now. He doesn’t need that stress, and he can think through his wrongdoings later.

He shed a single tear before collecting himself.

“Who are you?” Chat asked between gulps of air.

“Now now, little kitty, I just need that ring of yours.” His voice was deep and unfamiliar, which was somewhat unnerving. He could really use Ladybug right now…

“Yeah, you can’t have that. Is there anything else that’ll fancy you?” Chat Noir singsonged, earning another bullet to miss in exchange. “So I’ll take that as a no.” The unnamed villain kept targeting the hero, and the hero would keep avoiding the paralyzing bullets.

A purple silhouette of a butterfly appeared in front of the villain’s eyes, and he heard the sound of a woman’s calm voice. “Immobilizer, keep chasing the cat, but don’t get a shot on him. He is the perfect bait to bring in the Ladybug, and possibly other friends.”

“Yes, Hawk Moth.”

The silhouette disappeared, and the chase persisted. Chat would keep bounding between buildings and deflecting the darts with his baton, and there was still no sign of the bug.

Was she already paralyzed? As a civilian? That would be the worst scenario possible. If that were the case, then Chat would need a way to summon help or to get her moving again, only he didn’t know who she was or where she was, so the former would be the best option.

It was at that moment he realized he was cornered, and if it weren’t for the metal overhang above him, he could have easily gotten out of this one.

A dart came right towards his head, so he crossed to the right, then to the left, and then he ducked.

The only other direction to go was down, and as far as he was concerned, he’d rather not summon his power and make more damage than he’d already done.

The villain backed away a few steps, as if he were given direction to, and lowered his weapon. “I will give you one more opportunity to hand over your ring, and I will spare you.”

Chat’s eyes promptly widened when he was approached by a red being heading in his direction, expecting a dart. He was pleasantly surprised, however, when he was greeted by a red kwami, the one belonging to Ladybug.

“Chat Noir! Your cataclysm!” She warned.

“I- I can’t! Not again!”

The kwami was awfully confused for a few moments before shaking it off. “It’s the only way!”

“Enough of these shenanigans, I’ll paralyze you and take the ring myself!”

Chat took two deep breaths and looked down to his hand and ring intently.

“CATACLYSM!” He announced as a last resort before pounding his open hand on the ground beneath him, just in the nick of time. While the ground beneath Immobilizer crumbled, the villain was distracted enough for Chat to extend his baton and run across rooftops and back into another alley to detransform.

“Here Plagg,” he handed his kwami some camembert, “That villain is exhausting. What else am I supposed to do? All I can do is run. If I get too close, I get frozen!”

“I don’t know kid, but it would be extra nice if you got some help. I just need a nap already!” Plagg faked a yawn and swallowed his cheese.

“Woah, so you’re Ladybug’s kwami? So cool!” Adrien beamed, happy for a change in pace when he turned around from Plagg to the new friend.

“Ladybug is in trouble! She was frozen by the akuma before she transformed! You’re Paris’ only hope, Adrien.” Woah, that was a ton of pressure, just placed on him with a few words.

 _Paris’ only hope_.

“Watch it, Tikki, you can’t put all this weight on this kid’s shoulders and not do anything!” Plagg teased.

“Well at least I can provide help without tearing all of Paris in half!” She glared at the other kwami and crossed her arms.

“I do NOT tear Paris in half! I provide the perfect amount of destruction for the perfect situations!”

“Plagg. Dinosaurs!”

“Plagg, you mentioned I could get help, so what if I get help like Ladybug does!” Adrien interjected before their argument could escalate. “And Tikki, was it?” She nodded. “What does your power do? Do you have something like Plagg’s cataclysm?”

“Yes! I can revert damage, similar to how Ladybug does, only to an uncontrollable scale. Similar to how Plagg can destroy a whole city or just make a crack of damage, I could either repair only one issue or fix all of them. It can be quite unpredictable, and I don’t have control over it.” Tikki’s thorough explanation sparked a battle plan in Adrien. Ladybug might not have been there, but that didn’t deem him useless!

“That sounds great, but what if I need to summon an ally like Ladybug does? I only know Chloe’s identity, and she’s frozen.” Tikki thought carefully about this. Alya was frozen too, so if Adrien could just give the turtle miraculous to Nino, who was protected in the safety of his home all morning, it would deem successful! His shellter could even protect from any blows, thus giving opportunity to defeat the villain. The only downfall is that Nino’s identity would be compromised.

However, this was a crisis, and Adrien didn’t have much time to train a new miraculous holder, and Nino was the most experienced with the turtle anyways.

“Adrien, we must go to the guardian! You need to summon Carapace, and the guardian holds his miraculous until it needs to be distributed! Follow us.” Tikki began to take flight down a street, and Adrien followed in a slight sprint. 

Thunder was erupting from the darkened sky, which only fueled his adrenaline.

“Chat Noir, I have been expecting you,” the guardian began once they arrived, “Ladybug is in trouble, and you seek an ally, hm?”

“I do. It’s what Tikki recommended.”

“Master Fu, he needs the turtle miraculous, your bracelet.” Tikki warned. “It is the best option with the villain at hand.”

“And Carapace’s identity?”

“This is the only way we can defeat this guy.” Plagg added. “Gotta do what we gotta do.” He lazily floated around Master Fu’s shop, distracted by his own thoughts.

“I understand. We must make compromises during times of hardship.” Master Fu removed his bracelet and placed it in the palm of Adrien’s hand.

“Who does it go to?”

“Nino Lahiffe, the boy in your class, one of your dearest companions.” Fu answered wisely. “Now, you must go. There is not much more time you can waste.”

“Thank you, Master, I won’t let you down!” Adrien began running off, leaving Tikki and Fu alone in his shop.

“Tikki, I believe it is time.”

The ladybug kwami nodded solemnly before darting off to follow the others.

Adrien was shocked to say the least, but it made the most sense in the end.

He transformed, and with Tikki closeby, made his way to Nino’s apartment. “Oh Nino! Anybody there?” Chat Noir sang out through an open window, one he assumed to be Nino’s room. He stood there a couple floors up, balanced on his trusty baton. Soon enough, Nino appeared, alone in the bedroom. 

“Special delivery to Nino Lahiffe, from yours truly!” Chat held out the box and Nino gladly accepted it with a smile.

“Sick dude! Where’s Ladybug?” He opened the box and watched Wayzz appear.

“She was captured by the akuma, but we have a plan!

From there, it was on to finding and stopping that mysterious villain.

There were plenty of things already going through the cat themed hero’s mind, such as how Ladybug was doing, how he was going to go about defending Paris, and, on the very back of his thoughts, how Marinette was holding up.

He just misses his lady a lot, he told himself. That’s why he’s thinking different.

“Ah, I thought you’d never show again, my dear kitty cat.” It was at that moment that Chat noticed how eerily silent was other than the man’s low, nearly growl like voice. It brought him chills down his spine, and he felt even more chills as a single drop of rain made its landing on his shoulder, sliding down his suited arm.

“Likewise! Isn’t it just about time to get this show on the road?” He taunted, hoping to keep the villain off his tracks for as much as he could manage.

It _was_ certainly time to get that show on the road now, wasn’t it?

An ambush of red bullets rushed towards the heroes, but Carapace was quick to deploy his shield and protect them, while taking some ground to get closer to the villain. All they had to do was get closer to the school, and they were roughly a block away.

The objective was to reverse the cat and mouse chase and have “Mystery Dude,” as Nino called him, surrounded with no other means of escape but up. Once the villain would jump up, Nino would capture his weapon with shellter. There, Chat Noir would pin the villain, Tikki would reverse the damage, and then she would find Ladybug to cleanse the akuma.

As soon as the villain was finally cornered within a hallway at the school, Carapace was ready for his phase of the plan.

“SHE-”

Oh brother.

In that split second of weakness, Carapace was shot, and Chat Noir’s lack of focus cost him his ally.

Where was Ladybug? How was Marinette? How could he stop this villain? This was all so overwhelming, and with the situation with his father and his house stuck in the back of his head, and he couldn’t even protect Nino, Carapace… whatever you’d call it.

He dodged another shot.

There was a bout of back and forth between shooting and combat, and Chat was nothing but worn out, but he couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t quit, not when it for his lady.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” Tikki yelped in the midst of battle, earning the attention of both fighters. Magically, Carapace and a few other students were reanimated, and the ladybug kwami winked at the feline hero before hovering away, most likely to Ladybug.

“NO!” The villain screamed when he saw a swarm of ladybugs approaching the green clad hero, who was given the perfect amount to finish his phrase.

“-ELLTER!”

And a barrier was perfectly made, trapping the syringe gun, and leaving Immobilizer in Chat Noir’s quick grasp seconds later.

“I see you’ve gotten a lot done while I was gone, Kitty Cat.” Ladybug’s voice was music to their ears as she approached the scene, readying her yoyo. “Alright Carapace, I’m all ready for it.”

The shellter dissipated, leaving the syringe to break on the floor, and allowing a little black butterfly to take flight.

“No more evil doing for you, little akuma!” She cleansed the butterfly and watched it fly away in purity. “Bye bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!” Now, at a larger scale, the ladybugs repaired all damage, like the massive hole in the ground made by Chat Noir, and the rest of the civilians around Paris were finally able to move freely again.

“Pound it!” The three heroes shared a quick fist bump before their attention was redirected by a groan.

Left behind was none other than Dr. Alexandre Artz, who had been akumatized from being too overwhelmed from the events of earlier that morning.

“Where am I?” He asked, patting down his own chest and legs with a slight tremble from disorientation. Chat Noir observed his badge, then knelt down to meet him eye to eye in a non-confrontational manner. “And what happened to me?”

“You’re in College Francois Dupont, and you were akumatized, but everything is okay now, Doctor… Artz?” Chat Noir helped the victim rise from the ground and gave him a gentle smile.

“Yes, yes, that’s me. Can you, by chance, take me back to the Hospital St. Louis?”

“It’ll be a cat’s pleasure!” And off they went.

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Carapace walked off to a secluded classroom on the first floor of the school, no students were in there for the first morning periods.

Nino then detransformed, huffing out a sigh of relief.

“Now, Nino, Master Fu told Tikki to pass me a fun little factoid he’d want you to know.” Ladybug crossed her arms with a knowing smirk.

“What would that be?”

“The bracelet is all yours.” She gave him a warm smile as he gasped, looking down at his wrist. “The guardian believes you will be a valuable part of the team, and Chat Noir and I have a great deal of trust in your capabilities to be a permanent hero.”

“Really? That’s sick dude!” Nino jumped in glee as Wayzz sat on his shoulder. “This is amazing! Thank you Ladybug!”

“Wayzz, I trust you’ll help him with the specifics. Bug out!” She ran off outside the school, and made her escape from there.

She promptly released her transformation after landing on her balcony, assuming school would be cancelled until second hour, considering the battle that had just taken place. Since it was roughly ten o clock, she’d have a good fifteen minutes before having to leave to Ms. Mendeleive’s physics class.

“Why do you think Master Fu decided to give away his miraculous, Tikki?” 

“The Master works in mysterious ways, but he always has a reason for everything. I wouldn’t think too hard about it for now, and just accept the new ally.” Tikki fluttered around the balcony and onto the railing, relaxing as Marinette handed her a macaron.

“Marinette, honey? Are you up there? I heard her talking, did you, Sabine?”

“I heard her too, maybe she’s on the phone with Alya.”

It was her parents, so she gave Tikki a quick smile to her holder before she rushed down the trapdoor, and then down the staircase to her living room.

“Oh we were so worried, Marinette. The villain looked right through this window and a dart hit your father, and then he stopped moving!” Tikki heard Sabine speak gently to her daughter, and her heart warmed. There were plenty of times where her chosen was isolated, or painfully introverted, but Marinette shone such a bright light that made it easy for anyone to interact with her, beginning with her parents.

Marinette was a special one indeed, and in the end, whether their endeavors would be romantic or not, she and her family would make Adrien complete, and that was just what he needed in this part of his life, especially with everything going on.

“Your mother’s right, darling. Who knows how many people would have been paralyzed if Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t save everyone. The worst part was that you could still hear and see, but you couldn’t move!” Tom added, placing his hand on Sabine’s shoulder.

Tikki, left on her own, saw a black blur soaring through the skies and towards the school. A grin made its way to creep up her face, knowing it was Chat Noir — Adrien, rather, making his way back to school.

Her smile, however, quickly disappeared when she made brief eye contact with the hero, and he nearly tripped over the thin air he was suspended in.

——-

“Plagg this is a PROBLEM!” Adrien paced back and forth in the empty locker room — everyone in the school fled home to skip until the second period, save a few students who remained on campus, including the troubled boy.

“Took you long enough to figure it out. If you weren’t looking for Marinette, you wouldn’t have seen Tikki on the balcony in the first place!” Plagg stalled by the open locker, feasting on a wheel of cheese.

“This is too much to handle! I must be hallucinating! I never saw Tikki, right? RIGHT?” His irrational yelling startled Plagg to a certain extent, but the kwami remained unbothered for the most part. “But I did see her! The red and the big bug eyes ugh!”

“Oh well, it happened! You should tell her!”

“Are you crazy!?” Adrien stopped where he was to glare at the gluttonous cat. “Tell Ladybug? Marinette? No way! She’d be so angry that I was snooping, and her kwami! What would her kwami say? Her kwami knows I’m Adrien, what if she just tells her? This is a disaster, Plagg, a disaster!”

“Well I wouldn’t call it a disaster, you liked both of them anyways.”

“I never liked Marinette!” He bursted, thinking about the words that just left his mouth. “I love Ladybug, but if she’s Marinette, then I should just love her, but Marinette is my friend and so is Ladybug, and now I don’t feel like I know either of them.”

“But you do! It’s like two halves of a wheel of cheese, all together today in one gooey roll of deliciousness!”

“That’s weird, but I get what you’re saying. I just… need to get used to this.”

“Get used to what? Your life was just made so much easier!”

“I don’t think I love Ladybug like I used to anymore.”

Plagg went silent. Adrien loved two girls, it was completely obvious! To find out those two girls are the same person should have been easy! The same person! He only likes one girl!

“Okay, of course I still love her, but it does change things now that she’s Marinette. I’m pretty sure Marinette doesn’t feel the same, same goes for Ladybug. She loves Luka. They love Luka.”

Marinette liking Luka never seemed like much of a problem. They were both very kind when he was going out with Kagami on the ice rink, and since his denied feelings for Marinette had only scratched the surface before making this discovery about her, other guys in her life never crossed his mind.

He shouldn’t even consider that brief moment of euphoria whenever he looked into the girl’s eyes to be actual _feelings_ , it was just strong friendship!

“You should ask her. If she actually likes the Luka kid, she’d probably tell you.” An odd mix of a yawn and a groan came from Plagg, then he looked at Adrien waiting for a response.

“Why in the world would I do something like that?”

“If she likes you, it’s good! If she likes Luka, at least you have the closure to get over her and get some cheese instead!”

“If she likes Luka, then maybe helping her pursue him could be good! I could be the friend that I was supposed to be, the partner I was supposed to be.” Adrien pondered. The only downside would be the sting in his chest when he’d see them hold hands or share a short kiss.

He shouldn’t be selfish, especially after finding out something like this and deciding to shoo away any intention of him telling her.

He didn’t deserve to know, he wasn’t supposed to know. He was already being selfish enough with everything going on in his life, and this secret wouldn’t be the only thing he wasn’t owning up to…

“I need to just relax and think, Plagg. There should be another wheel of cheese in my fencing duffel.” Adrien concluded, taking a seat on a nearby bench and resting his head in his palms.

He had some time, he just needed to think.

——-

Chloe always knew she was different, in a most definitely good way, of course. While others had a simple sandwich for lunch, she would have a three course gourmet meal. While others would be rushing to finish extra homework with this extra time before school returned, she would simply wait for Sabrina to deliver it to her.

Sabrina walked onto the balcony, her normal routine after any kind of break, to meet Chloe. She had completed two essays for a physics report, one for herself, and one for her best friend. She thought now would be a good time to give it to her.

Only, she was very surprised by a book Chloe seemed to be so focused on. So focused that she didn’t notice the stubborn drop of paperwork on the table next to her.

“Chloe, what class is **that** for?” Sabrina inquired, genuinely confused. “I could have read it for you, you know, like I always do.”

“It isn’t for a class, Sabrina.” Chloe shooed her off with a flick of her hand, but the ginger haired girl was still very confused.

“Then what is it for, Chlo?”

“Oh, nothing. A friend of mine recommended it.” Chloe smiled as she closed the book and placed it on the table beside the reports. “Let’s go do something else, maybe whip out the Ladybug and Chat Noir costumes, hm?”

“Sure Chloe!” They made their way inside, leaving all their work and books behind on the terrace to be retrieved by the butler.

 _Political Sciences,_ the book read.

It wasn’t long before the role play had to end and school had to begin, and students began congregating back in front of the school.

Adrien decided to wait for his friends out front as well, standing and searching for someone to talk to for the few minutes left before physics class.

Unexpectedly, he was approached by Alya.

“I’d like my phone back, Agreste.” She smirked, holding out her hand.

“Oh, right.” He rummaged through his satchel and found the device in pristine condition, then handed it back to her. “How’d you know I had it?”

“I saw you take it, duh!” She turned on her phone and mindlessly scrolled through it.

“But you were frozen! How did you see me?”

“Because I could still hear and see, I just couldn’t move!” She laughed, focused on what was on the screen.

Oh _shit_.

Hopefully Marinette didn’t think so much about his moment with her.

“Alya! A word!” Marinette stormed by, linking arms and dragging her away.

What if she dragged her away to rant about how Chat Noir whispered in her ear and touched her face! That would be so weird and embarrassing!

Or it could be Luka! Sweet, adorable Luka! How dreamy _he_ is and how musically talented _he_ is!

No! He needs to talk this out with her and tell her the truth before he gets madly jealous!

But if he tells her, she’ll be disappointed for his snooping and irresponsibility, and he won’t even have her as a friend!

But what if he tells her too late? She would think he’s keeping even more secrets that he’s waiting to tell!

He should just start with Luka. _So, you like Luka?_ No no no, that seems like he was a stalker and was already thinking about it. _You have your eye on anyone?_ Hm, it seemed a little needy...

“How do I invite him over to my house without seeming like a total weirdo?” Marinette pleaded, but Alya was off into her own world in her phone, probably texting Nino.

“Just do it girl! He was there yesterday, he’d be more than glad to be there today! You guys were so productive and enjoyed yourselves, and you’re doing nothing wrong!” She brushed it off and let out a small exhale through her nose, as if it were a laugh from something amusing on her phone.

“I guess you’re right, I’m helping him out… but I hope he doesn’t see it in a weird way.”

“He totally won’t.” The bell rang, so the students only had five more minutes to get to classes. “Ask him once class ends, okay?”

“Sure thing.” Marinette and Alya began walking inside, and the former decided to check her phone for random updates.

It’s almost as if she were distracting herself.

Chat Noir, oh flirty, friendly Chat Noir.

She knew he could be touchy, especially with damsels in distress. He always kissed her hand when she was behind the superheroine facade, and he took every opportunity to lay a hand on her.

To lay a hand on _Ladybug._

And that’s why she found it so odd for him to get so affectionate for those few seconds, but maybe it was merely an impulse of sadness. They knew each other, they had that sweet moment on her balcony of true honesty, but she just wasn’t used to the idea of him being so loving to _Marinette_.

Maybe she should actually see him as Ladybug. After all, it had been quite a while since they talked as themselves. Well, as the personas they knew each other as.

She was also determined to see what she could do about the Agreste mansion with her powers. She knew little of the extent of damage her miraculous could cure, but she wanted to talk to Tikki about it when she had the time.

But for now, she has class.

——-

“What’s going on between you and Luka?” Adrien blurted at the end of physics class as the others were packing their books and tablets up.

“Oh, Luka?” Marinette responded, getting up and clumsily slinging her backpack on from one shoulder to the other. “He’s nice and we’re friends, but there’s nothing, uh, _romantic_ between us, if that’s what you’re asking.” She confirmed, feeling a bit of sweat form under her eyebrow at the sudden confrontation.

“You guys are just friends?” He poked a little more, somewhat thirsty for information about this girl.

“Yeah! Friends! Just like you and me, right?” She playfully punched his shoulder.

“Right. Just like you and me.”

“So, uh, do you want to come to my house again? My parents would love to have you over again!” By then, the duo was leaving the classroom and heading down the staircase. It was now time for their hour and a half long lunch break, but Adrien soon grew disappointed at a realization.

“Nathalie planned a special lunch with Chloe, and it’s kinda hard to get out of plans with Chloe. I can hang out after school though, if you want?” He offered whatever he could, at least hoping to keep his irrational feelings at bay before getting too clingy or too cold.

He didn’t know how the girl thing worked and the flirty puns didn’t really do the job.

“That sounds good. We can do the physics problems we didn’t finish in class, and I heard we were doing paragraphs for French this afternoon, so we could finish those too in no time!”

“That would be amazing. I’ll see you in French, then?” Adrien held out a hand to shake.

“French it is.” Marinette shook it back and made a turn to the cafeteria. It was Taco Tuesday, and Marinette _never_ misses Taco Tuesday.

The only thing that stung a bit was that Marinette had to wait hours to see Adrien again. After lunch was third period - electives. She signed up for art, but he was enrolled in gym class.

_French it is._

So Marinette met Alya and Nino in line, and she was gonna get some damn tacos.

She couldn’t help but feel like a bit of a third wheel with Alya and Nino nowadays. They had all these inside jokes that, no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t catch on to.

And there was also Lila. She always tried to ruin things too. Like right then and there.

Since Marinette was a little late after her talk to Adrien after class, getting to the taco line was a little bit of a rush, but she saw a nice tray only a few feet away from her, ready for her.

“Oh! Alya!” Lila seemed pained as she trudged towards the line, and she started some random conversation, skipping Marinette and getting right between her and Alya.

Right between her and her tacos.

And Lila took the last tray.

The last tray of tacos were gone, and this time, Lila wasn’t even trying to ruin her life, she was just skipping for no reason!

Trying her best to suppress her anger, Marinette mumbled some curses to herself and marched out of the cafeteria in defeat.

Ugh!

She was able to get home though, but it felt so terribly long. She never remembered feeling so much desire to see Adrien again, not before they spent last afternoon together.

The only thing was that this desire was in more of a friendly fashion. Sure, she still had those unreasonably strong urges to kiss him, but when she thought about the next time they’d see each other, she was looking forward to doing homework and talking about the world nowadays.

Marinette sat at the counter and glanced at the television to see the news. There were just some pictures of the torn apart Agreste mansion, but this time she took a closer look.

There were large piles of debris, some parts of the house that hadn’t concaved into what looked like a large basement were standing still, crumbling apart little by little, and everything was tinted a smoky gray. That was the focus of it all. The mountains of concrete were blackened and a layer of ash settled peacefully on top of it.

A fire. It looked like a horrible fire.

But it wasn’t, definitely wasn’t a fire. And Marinette wouldn’t find out about that for a very long time.

——-

“Now, Adrikins, tell me everything you know about that Luka boy.” Chloe demanded before taking another bite of her salad. It was a good salad indeed, incorporated with a breast of chicken, crunchy bacon bits, and an assortment of other vegetables.

“Luka? You mean Juleka’s brother who plays the guitar?” _And the one who Marinette loves?_

It took Chloe a moment to respond, considering how she was distracted by Adrien’s untouched salad. It was such a good salad! A great salad! Possibly her favorite salad and he hasn’t even picked up a fork! How ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!

Adrien used the tip of his sweatshirt sleeve to wipe his nose again, something he had been doing often throughout the day. His natural coping mechanism to trauma had always been to pretend he was fine. Pretend he was happy. If he pretended enough, he would be fine and happy. And he was! Yesterday he enjoyed his afternoon, and when he enjoys himself, it’s not very hard to keep him distracted to his situation.

When he was seven, he was in a playground with Chloe, and her father Andre had been watching over them. While playing hide and seek, Adrien decided it would be a good idea to search for Chloe as fast as he could. He loved hiding and just wanted to get the seeking over with every time it was his turn.

So naturally, he would use the fireman pole to get from the top of the playground back to the mulch ground, only he miscalculated his descent and landed on his arm.

Andre had witnessed it and called Chloe immediately, also calling Emilie to meet them at the emergency room nearby.

But Adrien didn’t cry. He didn’t even scream. He laughed. All the way to the hospital he laughed.

When he’d be out with his cast on, he kept laughing, kept playing, kept forgetting that he fractured his radius. It wasn’t until someone brought up the bright blue cast that he’d remember he fell that day.

It was Chloe’s idea to get Adrien to public school once his mother was gone. One thing Chloe gathered from growing up with him was that he needed constant distractions, and she thought getting him exposed to new people would help him move on.

Because even when his mother was gone, he kept pretending, he kept laughing, and he kept forgetting.

And that’s what Adrien was doing then and there. Trying to forget. Being with Marinette to make him smile away his worries for a bit, having lunch with Chloe to get his head out of the news, it was all the way he’d cope, and Chloe knew that.

She even knew that sometimes he’d break. So much withdrawal from it finally catching up to him as he’d cry his eyes out. Like when it kicked in that he couldn’t play hide and seek until his arm healed, or that his mother wouldn’t hum him a goodnight tune that night to help him sleep.

She always thought that was super bipolar of him.

“You know,” Chloe changed the subject, “my Daddy always taught me that whenever I have a problem, I fix it by force. That’s the only way I get what I want.”

“Are you telling me to-“

“Hold on, I’m not finished, and I’m certainly not telling you to do the same. Your problems are very different from mine.” She stopped him from being incredibly offended, and he slackened just a bit. “My problem right now is that my best friend is sad and won’t touch his salad. Have you eaten since yesterday?”

Adrien responded with a solemn no.

“That’s what I thought. Problem number two, I’m enjoying one of the best salads I’ve ever had, and I would really like it if you enjoyed it too. If you won’t take even just a bite for me, at least do it for the lousy butler who put it on your table.” Chloe finished by taking another bite, quite angrily.

And so Adrien began eating. His mind changed from his broken home and his injured father to how good that salad was.

It was a REALLY good salad. He was planning on tipping whoever made it.

“Now to answer what you asked before, yes I mean Juleka’s older brother. Tell me everything about him.”

“I’ve only talked to him a couple times, and he’s really good at playing guitar.” Adrien savored another mouthful. “I didn’t know that you knew the kid.”

“I met him yesterday. He was lame, he told me what to do! And you know what I did? I did exactly what he told me to, and I have no idea why! Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?”

“Well-“

“And he likes Dupain-Cheng! I said it! He likes Marinette Dupain-Chang and I have no idea why that makes me angry!” Chloe pouted. “If it weren’t for the good food service today, I’d be much angrier.”

Adrien wondered for a bit. Marinette seemed to like Luka, even if she said it wasn’t romantic. She got nervous when he brought Luka up.

Maybe playing wingman would help him get over his unreasonable feelings after all, since all of the pieces of the puzzle are seeming to line up.

“Why should it make you angry? Didn’t you say you just met him?” Adrien reasoned.

“Yeah! He’s telling me to lay back from my goal, and that he’ll just do the same! And he actually convinced me it was a good idea for a second, but that isn’t me! That’s not Chloe Bourgeois!”

“So you don’t want him to lay back from his goal, and you don’t want to lay back from yours either…” Adrien concluded, not bothering to ask what in the world Chloe’s goals could be this time, but maybe he could be just a little selfish and ask what Luka’s were. “Goal? What goals does he have?”

“The Dupain-Cheng girl is his goal. The poor puppy is in love and decided he doesn’t want to do anything about it. It’s shameful if you ask me. Ugh.”

“You think they should get together?”

“I know they should get together. Then Luka won’t complain and Marinette Dupain-Cheng will be doing her own thing, hopefully not bothering us. Sounds nice, doesn’t it, Adrikins?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s nice.” Adrien dazed off and decided to just agree. He just needed ways to get over these feelings, and if her being with someone else would do the trick, then so be it.


End file.
